


Floriography

by ashaymkirk



Category: Star Trek: The Original Series
Genre: M/M, Secret Cupid, chulu - Freeform, this is a gift
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-02-15
Updated: 2017-02-15
Packaged: 2018-09-24 15:26:07
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,484
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9768056
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ashaymkirk/pseuds/ashaymkirk
Summary: How Pavel found himself in the Hikaru’s quarters listening about how to take care of an antarian moon blossom was still a mystery to him.Or the one Pavel learns floriography just to impress Hikaru.





	

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you to my lovely proof readers @thatpunktrekkie and @spacekirk who helped me with this and that yesterday, helped me when i was going through some not so lovely times, i love you guys!!
> 
> This is a gift for @adavinic on tumblr, soo... Surprise!!!! Happy Valentine's Day!!
> 
> My tumblr is @ashaymkirk, go follow me there so you dont miss any of my other writing attempts but most importantly my rants and rambles about things i like that nobody cares.
> 
> Enjoy!!!

The Alpha shift had just ended, and Pavel could only wish to be in his quarters as quickly as possible. Sadly, that wouldn't be possible.

 

At lunch break, he had sat on his usual table with Hikaru and heard him talk about his new plants and flowers, for like the hundredth time. Usually, he could just listened and not have to say anything, but today, Hikaru thought that it would be a good idea to teach him how to grow and take care of different specimens of plants. 

So that’s how now he found himself in the other man’s quarters listening about how to take care of an antarian moon blossom.

It wasn’t as bad as he thought it would be. Hikaru’s voice echoed though the room and was accompanied by the sounds of pots being moved, dirt being carefully poured, the spray of water and the squeak of his shoes as he took care of the plants.

Pavel was almost entranced by the man’s movements and by the sound of his voice saying stuff that he should probably pay more attention to. 

Ever since the first day he was transferred from the gamma shift to the alpha shift and started working with Hikaru, he knew he wouldn't be able deny anything to the man. 

After a few weeks, despite the slight age difference, they had developed a strong friendship and from the 1600, their shift’s end, to the 1900, they would always be found joined at the hip, having conversations that went from mathematical theories, shore leave plans, mission stories to more deep conversations about the infinite darkness that was space and their deepest fears.

Pavel remembered the conversation about fears very well. He remembers that Hikaru’s fears were being poisoned by an unknown plant to him and martian insects. Pavel also remembers lying about his fears and saying the dark even though something inside him shouted “losing you”.

“Chekov, are you paying any attention to me at all?”

Pavel, blushed and stuttered a response, repeating bits of information that he could recall listening.

“T-the Idran Hybrid, haz roots that if not over-vatered would r-rot,”

A smile took over Hikaru’s face and then he shook his head and chuckled. He took some steps towards Pavel, grabbed his arm and dragged him to a different table that held some plants that weren't like the rest, they seemed more “normal”. 

“Let’s start with something easier. Do you recognize any of these flowers?” He gestured to the millions of colorful flowers and that's when it clicked. They were terran flowers.

“Yes! Those are Arnica Montana and Camomile flowers, right? I haven’t seen them since I was a child in Russia!” 

“I knew you would relate something about this to Russia, but yes, they are all Terran,” after that, Sulu started a new rant about taking care of Terran flowers and plant in space and how it was slightly different that growing them in greenhouses because of all the movements the spaceship had to make.

At one point, Hikaru took off his shirt with the excuse of not wanting to ruin it more than he had already done with the soil. Pavel stood there staring at his chest for a good ten minutes until he felt that Hikaru would start notice him not paying attention again.

At 2000, Pavel started to yawn uncontrollably and Hikaru apologized for the fifth time about being boring and keeping Pavel’s time. He just laughed and reassured him that he had enjoyed himself very much, but that he was growing very tired and that he should go.

“Thank you for teaching me Sulu, maybe ve can do this again tomorrow after our shift?”

Hikaru’s eyes seemed to light up at that thought. ”I would like that very much, Pavel,” he accompanied him to his quarter’s doors and before he left, Sulu grabbed his arm, pulled him backwards and opened his mouth to say something, but nothing came out. He smiled a little bit forcibly, let go Pavel’s arm, patted his back and let him go.

 

Pavel arrived at his quarters, that were just two doors down the hall, took of his shoes and threw himself on his bed. 

He wondered about what Hikaru might have wanted to tell him and what made him not to do it. Hikaru had always been very open to him, well, to everyone for that matter, but Pavel liked to think that there were things that only he knew or noticed about Hikaru.   
Like the way his brows furrowed when he concentrated on trimming his plants, or like when they came back from their lunch break, there would be some moments in when they entered the bridge, he zoned out, looking at the millions of stars float by, as if he couldn’t believe that man had gotten to the Moon.  
He did not think that he had done anything wrong, maybe he didn't show that he was listening to him enough, but in all fairness he could never concentrate when he was around, even less when they were touching. 

He had to do something about that, the Captain had began catching him staring at Hikaru instead of doing what he was told to do and it was taking a toll on his work performance.  
Maybe spending even more time with Hikaru would make him brave enough to say something about his crush on him, but he knew that Hikaru wouldn't be easy to woo. It had to be something special, maybe not flashy, but it had to say “I like you” and by just doing it the feeling would have come across, so if Pavel freezed, he wouldn't have to explicitly say it, it would just be there and Hikaru would understand.

He got up from his bed, searched for his padd and started working on a plan.  
At 0200, Pavel had finished his extensive research and had the basic outline of his plan. It was all pretty step-forward, but it would take him a week minimum of preparation with help of Mr. Spock.  
At 2030, Pavel found himself in a deep sleep filled with dreams of plants and the sound of Hikaru’s enthusiastic voice.

 

The next day, Pavel found himself running to catch the turbolift as he was running late for the Alpha shift. When he got in, he stopped running a second too late and ended up bumping into Mr. Spock.

“I'm so sorry Mr. Spock, I was running late for the turbolift and-”

“There’s no need to apologize, Lieutenant Chekov, as I know it was not in your intention to cause me any harm”

Pavel swallowed and straightened his posture. The turbolift was empty except for him and Mr. Spock, so he decided on asking for help for the plan right there.  
“Mr. Spock, you know a lot about plants, right?”

Spock looked at Pavel and arched an eyebrow.

“That’s correct, Lieutenant. Are you also interested in botany?”

“Not exactly- well, maybe, I-” Pavel took a deep breath, collected himself, and continued, “You know Sulu, right?”

“I should think so, Lieutenant, seeing I work with him every day, as I do with you,” Spock face showed as amusement as it could show, and Pavel mentally slapped himself.

“Yeah, right. So, I was wondering if you knew something about the Terran language of Flowers? And if you would like to help me with writing something in that language for someone...”

“I do know floriography, and I know that one does not essentially write something with it. I would say one can express feelings through it by arming things such as flower arrangements with meaning,” Spock straightened up, folded his arm behind his back and leaned closer Pavel space, but not close enough to invade private space, so he could lower his voice and speak more hushedly  
“Am I correct to assume, that you would like to gift an arrangement to Lieutenant Sulu? If I am wrong, I fail to connect how he is related to this,”

Pavel felt his heart beat faster and his face grow hotter from embarrassment.

“Yes, I- I would like to give him a bouquet of flowers, he has been such a good friend to me and I want to-”

Suddenly, the turbolift stopped and it’s doors opened.

“Well, Lieutenant, we shall meet in my quarters at 1900 so i can assist you,” And with that, Spock walked to his station, leaving him standing in the turbolift. He snapped out of his thoughts and hurried of the turbolift just before the doors closed again. He arrived at the helm station and sat down on his chair next to Hikaru.

“Morning, Pavel!” Sulu flashed him one of his bright smiles and he tried to return the gesture but he is sure it came more as a overly happy mess, seeing that Hikaru chuckled and looked down to the control panel.  
His heart was thumping so loudly that the couldn't hear that Captain Kirk, was ordering something.

“Chekov!” Pavel turns around to face Kirk and sees an exasperated look on his face. 

“I'm so sorry, Captain, i- I don't-” Pavel tried to come up with an excuse but he couldn't so he just closed his mouth, sighed, and looked at the Captain.  
“Don't let it happen again, Lieutenant. I was merely requesting you to zoom in on the mark 118/220 on the view screen. Do you need to pay McCoy a visit down in sickbay?” 

“No, Sir! Zooming on them right now!”

 

At the end of their shift, Sulu motioned Pavel to follow him to his quarters. On their walk to them, Pavel had almost forgotten about his plan. When they arrived, Hikaru excused himself and went to change into something more adequate for moving soil around muttering something about not wanting to send more shirts to the wash because they always ended up getting smaller.  
When he got back, he was wearing the tight black undershirt from the uniform but he was also wearing some sweatshirts that for Pavel’s luck, seems to lie low on his hips. 

“See anything you like, Pavel?” 

Pavel blushed, stuttered something about wanting to get to work and Hikaru chuckled at the younger man. They moved from table to table, which were all full with different plants divided by sectors or planets, and this time at the end of the evening, Pavel had actually retained some knowledge about the Psychotropic flower and the Rikka flower.   
After saying goodbye for the night to eachother, Pavel went straight to Mr. Spock's quarters.  
The doors so the quarter opened, and he stepped in. 

“Afternoon, Lieutenant. Shall we start?” Spock asked in his always cool and collected tone. Pavel nodded.

“Very Well then, I have here, in my padd, a dictionary with all the meanings of the different Terran flowers. I reckon that the best place to start would be that you looked through the dictionary, choose the flowers you’d like to gift to Lieutenant Sulu, and then i could assist you in how to plant them.” 

Spock handed him the padd and motioned for him to sit on his desk’s chair. Pavel sat down and began searching, but he could still feel Spock’s view linger oh him as he sat on one of the other chairs in his quarter.

Thirty minutes has passed, when Pavel cleared his throat and called Mr. Spock to tell him about the flowers he had chosen.

“Very well, if those are the ones you chose, and you fully think that they will get your message across, then we shall proceed with the plan”

 

Approximately two weeks passed, and those weeks consisted of Pavel going to Hikaru’s quarters after their shift, help out with some of his plants, come back to his quarters at 1900, take care of his own flowers for the surprise he had been planning for Sulu and with some help of Mr. Spock, Pavel thought he was ready to pluck his flowers, arrange them as best as he could in the perfect bouquet that would show the other man his feelings for once and for all.   
He had no more excuses, after all, it was Valentine’s Day.

At the end of their shift, Pavel and Hikaru were walking together to Hikaru’s quarters but when they reached the door, Pavel stopped Sulu, grabbing him by the cuff of his shirt’s sleeve. Their fingers touched touched, Pavel let go of him and blushed.  
Hikaru had stopped walking and was now facing Pavel with a confused look in his face.

‘Could we, maybe, go to my quarters this time? I’ve got something I want to show you,” said Pavel, his voice a little bit muffled by his shoulder as he was trying to hide his blush and not look at Sulu at the same time.

“Sure, Pav. Let’s go,”

Pavel felt rocks at the bottom of his stomach as they walked two doors down to his quarters.

He punches his password and lets them both in. When they are inside, he sees Hikaru look towards the big bouquet of red tulips and chrysanthemum, gardenias and pink, white and red camellias, laying on his bed.

“What’s that, Pav?” he asked, as he picked them up. He smelled and noticed that they were just freshly cut. “Where did you get them?” 

As Sulu turns around he is met with Pavel facing him standing closer, not almost touching, but two steps away, as if he was being cautious. 

“I planted them, “ he takes a deep breath and continues, “ Mr. Spock helped me with the message and with the actual planting but basically, this are for you, Hikaru.” he took one step closer, but still leaving space just in case this did not go to plan.

Hikaru, looked down at the flowers in his hand with a serious expression for a whole minute and then asked; “Which message? I don’t see any card here,”

Pavel felt his stomach drop. “W-what do you mean ‘there is no message’?! I thought I had done all my research right! I-” He let a long breath and tried to remember. 

“Red tulips meant “Declaration of Love”, gardenias “You’re lovely” and “Secret Love”, the red chrysanthemum “I Love” and the multiple Camellias meant “Flame in my Heart”, “Longing and-”

He was cut by the sound of the flowers being thrown to the bed and the feeling of Hikaru’s lips against his. The kiss itself was passionate, but soft, just like the two of them, and it didn't last very long. When it finished, both were wearing the same goofy expression and they stood like that for what seemed days, until Pavel spoke:  
“Did you really not know that there was a flower language?”

Sulu frowned and hid his face in Pavel’s shoulder. “No..”

“Well is seems that ze pupil has surpassed the teacher,” he chuckled before he leant down to kiss Hikaru again.


End file.
